Henley College Coventry

Henley College Coventry REPORT FROM THE INSPECTORATE 1997-98 THE FURTHER EDUCATION FUNDING COUNCIL THE FURTHER EDUCATION FUNDING COUNCIL The Further Education Funding Council has a legal duty to make sure further education in England is properly assessed. The FEFC’s inspectorate inspects and reports on each college of further education according to a four-year cycle. It also assesses and reports nationally on the curriculum, disseminates good practice and advises the FEFC’s quality assessment committee. College inspections are carried out in accordance with the framework and guidelines described in Council Circulars 97/12, 97/13 and 97/22. Inspections seek to validate the data and judgements provided by colleges in self-assessment reports. They involve full-time inspectors and registered part-time inspectors who have knowledge of, and experience in the work they inspect. A member of the Council’s audit service works with inspectors in assessing aspects of governance and management. All colleges are invited to nominate a senior member of their staff to participate in the inspection as a team member. Cheylesmore House Quinton Road Coventry CV1 2WT Telephone 01203 863000 Fax 01203 863100 © FEFC 1998 You may photocopy this report. A college may use its report in promotional material provided quotes are accurate, and the findings of the inspection are not misrepresented. Contents Paragraph Summary Context The college and its mission 1 The inspection 5 Curriculum areas Computing and information technology 7 Business studies 12 Hospitality and catering 16 English 21 Cross-college provision Support for students 26 General resources 32 Quality assurance 37 Governance 45 Management 53 Conclusions 62 College statistics Henley College Coventry Grade Descriptors Retention and Pass Rates Inspectors assess the strengths and weaknesses Where data on students’ achievements appear of each aspect of provision they inspect. Their in tables, levels of achievement are shown in assessments are set out in the report. They use two ways: a five-point scale to summarise the balance • as a retention rate, which is the proportion between strengths and weaknesses. of students who completed a course in The descriptors for the grades are: relation to the number enrolled on 1 November in the first year of the course • grade 1 – outstanding provision which has • as a pass rate, which is the proportion of many strengths and few weaknesses students which passed examinations in • grade 2 – good provision in which the relation to the number entered. Pass rates strengths clearly outweigh the weaknesses for GCE A level are quoted for grades A to • grade 3 – satisfactory provision with E unless otherwise specified. Pass rates strengths but also some weaknesses for GCSE courses are quoted for grade C or • grade 4 – less than satisfactory provision above unless otherwise specified. Pass in which the weaknesses clearly outweigh rates for vocational and professional the strengths awards are for successful completion of the full award. • grade 5 – poor provision which has few strengths and many weaknesses. Aggregated grades for aspects of cross-college provision, curriculum areas and lesson observations, for colleges inspected during 1996-97, are shown in the following table. Grade 12345 %%%%% Curriculum areas 9 59 30 2 – Cross-college provision 18 51 27 4 – Lesson observations 19 42 31 7 1 Source: Quality and Standards in Further Education in England 1996-97: Chief inspector’s annual report. Grades were awarded using the guidelines in Council Circular 93/28, Assessing Achievement. Sample size: 122 college inspections Summary Henley College Coventry examination pass rates are at or above the averages for the sector. Students receive good West Midlands Region support from experienced and well-qualified staff. The quality of accommodation is high. Inspected February 1998 The college has strong links with the local community. Quality assurance procedures are Henley College Coventry is a general further thorough and are an integral part of the education college in the north-east part of college’s activities. The college should address: Coventry. The college produced a detailed low pass and retention rates on some courses; self-assessment report that covered all aspects the poor level of take-up of additional learning of its operations, including the work of support; low levels of usage of some collaborative providers. Most of the staff and accommodation; and the lack of co-ordination of many of the governors were involved in the the market research. production of the report. The self-assessment process involved consultation with people and The grades awarded as a result of the inspection organisations outside the college. The evidence are given below. in the self-assessment report was drawn from various sources, including records of lesson observations, and summaries of the views of students, employers and members of the local community about the college. Inspectors agreed with most of the judgements in the self-assessment report. They identified some strengths and a few weaknesses which the report did not mention. The college offers a wide range of courses in eight of the FEFC’s programme areas. Courses are provided at foundation, intermediate, advanced and higher levels. Four curriculum areas were inspected, including courses offered in the local community and by collaborative providers. The inspection also covered cross-college provision. The college is well governed. Its financial management is good. College managers are effective. Much of the teaching is of a good standard. Most Curriculum area Grade Cross-college provision Grade Computing and information technology 2 Support for students 2 Business studies 2 General resources 2 Hospitality and catering 2 Quality assurance 2 English 3 Governance 1 Management 2 Henley College Coventry 1 Context The College and its Mission staff, of whom 74 full-time equivalents were support staff. The college is divided into six 1 Henley College Coventry is a general schools: adult and community education; further education college and it was built in business; hospitality, health and beauty studies; 1964. The main campus is in the north east of humanities, arts and sciences; leisure, tourism the city. The college provides several and sports studies; and media, design and programmes at other sites in the locality. technology. Coventry is an industrial city with a population 4 The college has recently revised its mission of around 300,000. Its traditional industries statement, which now reads: ‘Henley College have been in engineering and manufacturing. Coventry is committed to putting the student The city is now proving attractive as a base for first in all its activities, by providing high-quality many companies in the services sector. Small education and training to meet the needs of and medium-sized enterprises are important individuals and of the community into the next providers of employment. Ninety-seven per cent millennium’. of local companies employ fewer than 200 people. In November 1997, the unemployment rate in Coventry was 5.9 per cent, compared with the national average of 5.1 per cent. 2 The college is one of three further education colleges in Coventry. Increasingly, the three colleges are working with one another and with other education and training providers. There is also a specialist further education college in the city for students with physical and sensory difficulties. There are 19 secondary schools in Coventry and all have sixth forms. In 1997, 69 per cent of 16-year-olds in the city entered full-time education at school or college. A further 19 per cent received vocational training from an employer or through government training schemes. 3 On the 31 July 1997, the college had 9,414 enrolments, of which 8,020 were from part-time students, 1,394 from full-time students and 79 per cent from students aged 19 or over. During the past three years, the number of students at the college has increased by 61 per cent. The proportion of students at the college who are from minority ethnic groups is 20 per cent, and this compares with 12 per cent in the city’s population as a whole. Just over 54 per cent of students are from the areas of Coventry where levels of unemployment are significantly above the national average. On 31 July 1997, the college employed 202 full-time equivalent Henley College Coventry 2 Context The Inspection inspector’s annual report. The average level of attendance in the lessons inspected was 73 per 5 The college was inspected during the week cent compared with an average for the sector of beginning 23 February 1998. The inspection 77 per cent recorded in the same report. The team studied the college’s self-assessment report highest attendance was in computing and and reviewed information about the college information technology (IT) at 79 per cent, and provided by other divisions of the Further the lowest was in English at 65 per cent. The Education Funding Council (FEFC). The college following table shows the grades given to the submitted data on students’ achievements lessons inspected. between 1995 and 1997. Inspectors evaluated the data against primary sources such as class registers and pass lists issued by awarding bodies. Approximately two months before the inspection, inspectors notified the college of the provision to be inspected. The inspection was carried out by nine inspectors over 29 days and an auditor over three days. They observed 53 lessons, looked at students’ work and examined

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